Notebook
Next game: New Jersey Devils at Penguins, 7:38 p.m. tomorrow, Mellon Arena. TV, radio: Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh; WWSW-FM (94.5), WWSW-AM (970).
Lemieux, Patrick honored: Penguins owner Mario Lemieux and General Manager Craig Patrick, along with former U.S. Olympic Coach Lou Vairo, were named co-winners of the 2000 Lester Patrick Trophy. That is awarded "for outstanding service to hockey in the United States," and is named after Craig Patrick's grandfather. Lemieux played 12 seasons with the Penguins and put together a group that gained control of the franchise when it came out of bankruptcy last summer. Patrick has been the Penguins' GM for 10 seasons and previously served in that role with the New York Rangers. He also was assistant GM and assistant coach on the 1980 U.S. Olympic team. Vairo, director of special projects for USA Hockey since 1992, coached the 1984 Olympic team and the New Jersey Devils. Lemieux, Patrick and Vairo will be honored at a luncheon in the spring. Former Penguins right winger Joe Mullen shared the Patrick award with his brother, Brian, and Bob Fleming in 1995.
Kasparaitis skates: D Darius Kasparaitis, who has been bothered by a sore neck and concussion-type symptoms since being punched in the head by Gino Odjick of the New York Islanders Thursday, felt well enough to skate yesterday. He is scheduled to go on the ice again today, after which time his condition will be re-evaluated.
Thinking man's penalty: That RW Jaromir Jagr has exceptional timing and instincts isn't news to anyone who's watched him mature into the dominant offensive force in the game. But it turns out that Jagr knows how to take a well-timed penalty, too. With about 10 seconds remaining in the Penguins' 4-3 victory against Detroit Sunday, the puck slid into the neutral zone, forcing the Red Wings to go outside the blue line to regroup for a final assault on Penguins G Jean-Sebastien Aubin. But Jagr, knowing there was a delayed offside looming, latched onto Red Wings RW Pat Verbeek, preventing him from getting out of the attacking zone. Jagr was dispatched to the penalty box for holding with 3.4 seconds to go, but the whistle that stopped play so he could be sent off produced a faceoff outside the blue line. Being 60 or so feet away from the Penguins net with so little time on the clock effectively snuffed any hope the Red Wings had of forcing overtime. Even that heady penalty, coupled with the goal Jagr scored and one he set up, wasn't enough to earn him recognition as one of the game's three stars. Never mind that no player on either team had more of an impact on the outcome. "I tried my best," Jagr said, laughing. "Maybe next game."
Finally .500: Beating Detroit put the Penguins at .500 (17-17-3) for the first time since they were 2-2-2, enabling them to reach the first major objective Herb Brooks set when he replaced Kevin Constantine as coach Dec. 9. Because they were 8-14-3 when the change was made, getting to the break-even point was a significant feat. "That was a goal we talked about for a long time," Brooks said. "It's tough to make up six games. We've got that. Now we've got to re-evaluate and try to come up with some other goals."
Day of rest: Brooks gave his players yesterday off, although the team made its annual visit to Children's Hospital during the afternoon. The Penguins will resume practicing at 11 a.m. today at Southpointe.
3,000 seats left: The Penguins, who have sold out back-to-back regular-season games for the first time since March 21 and 28, 1998, report that fewer than 3,000 tickets remain for the New Jersey game tomorrow. Roughly the same total is available for Toronto's visit Friday to Mellon Arena, the Penguins' final home game until Jan. 19.
Minor-league Report
Sunday's results
WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON (8-21-5) did not play. D Sven Butenschon has seven goals, 10 assists in 23 games.
WHEELING (11-18-3) beat Trenton, 3-2, before 2,530 at the Wheeling Civic Center. C Dimitri Sergeev, C Derek Smith and LW Vladimir Gratchev scored for the Nailers. G Pascal Gasse made 28 saves.
